Person

Marsilius of Padua

c. 1275–c. 1342 · 14th century

Marsilius of Padua was an Italian political thinker whose treatise Defensor pacis (1324) argued that political authority comes from the people and that the Church should hold no coercive power. Condemned by Pope John XXII, he fled to the court of Louis IV of Bavaria, accompanied him to Rome in 1328 and remained in Munich until his death around 1342. His work is a landmark of medieval political theory.

Marsilius of Padua
Image: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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Duchy of BavariaImpact

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Marsilius of Padua. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/marsilius-of-padua
MLA
“Marsilius of Padua.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/marsilius-of-padua. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Marsilius of Padua.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/marsilius-of-padua.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Marsilius of Padua’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/marsilius-of-padua (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻